Thatcher: Britain, West Germany Close To Joining Star Wars

November 28, 1985|By United Press International

LONDON — Britain and West Germany are close to signing agreements with the United States to participate in the $26 billion Star Wars missile defense research program, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said Wednesday.

The pacts would be the first by European nations since President Reagan invited U.S. allies to participate in his strategic defense initiative.

The research is aimed at developing a weapon that could destroy attacking nuclear missiles while they are still in their trajectories in space.

After talks with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Thatcher said at a press conference, ''It is my belief we are likely to sign an agreement, both of us, before Christmas.''

But at the meeting with reporters, Kohl took a more cautious line.

He said, ''Our situation is slightly different'' and added that by Christmas his Cabinet might decide on only an outline agreement that could be made with Washington on Star Wars.

Thatcher said Britain is ''fairly well advanced with our negotiations'' over a role in the development of a possible defense against missiles.

Thatcher's government pushed for a guarantee from Washington that British companies would get at least $1.5 billion in Star Wars research work into such British specialties as lasers, particle beam weapons and electromagnetic guns. In talks four weeks ago in Brussels, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger told his British counterpart that Washington could give no guarantee on the size of British participation.

A source said strong American business lobbies in Washington would react negatively to public announcement of a large, specific share for British industry.

The Observer newspaper said at the time that in the talks with his NATO allies, Weinberger was most concerned about Star Wars knowledge falling into the hands of the Soviets.

Reagan has invited Western European nations to help in the development of Star Wars, but no nation has yet formally agreed to a role in the project. France has advocated European cooperation in a high-technology research program known as Eureka.

Star Wars is the major stumbling block in arms control negotiations with the Soviet Union.